The present invention relates to rotary recording medium reproducing apparatuses capable of placing and leaving a rotary recording medium in a state possible for reproduction within the rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus when a jacket (disc case) having a lid for accommodating the rotary recording medium therein is inserted into and then pulled out from within the rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus, and also capable of incasing the rotary recording medium within the jacket so that the rotary recording medium can be obtained outside the rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus together with the jacket, when the empty jacket is inserted into and then pulled out from within the reproducing apparatus. The present invention further and especially relates to the above type of a rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus in which a disc lifter elevator mechanism is provided, for lowering a disc lifter so as to retreat from an insertion passage of the jacket in response to the above insertion of the jacket into the rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus, without driving a motor.
Conventionally, in an apparatus for reproducing a disc-shaped recording medium (referring to video disc, PCM audio disc, and the like, and hereinafter simply referred to as a disc), there are types of apparatuses in which a disc is reproduced when the disc is loaded upon holding and placing of the disc within the reproducing apparatus, by inserting into and then pulling out a disc case which has a lid and accommodates a disc therein, from within the reproducing apparatus.
As a conventional apparatus of this type, a reproducing apparatus was proposed in a United States patent application Ser. No. 231,868 filed Feb. 5, 1981, entitled "DISC-SHAPED RECORDING MEDIUM REPRODUCING APPARATUS" in which the assignee is the same as that of the present application. This previously proposed reproducing apparatus operates together with a disc case comprising a jacket which has a space for accommodating a disc and an opening for allowing the disc to go in and out of the jacket, and a lid member inserted through the opening of the jacket for closing the opening of the jacket, where the reproducing apparatus comprises an inserting opening through which the case is inserted, a turntable for rotating the disc, holding means for holding a least one of the disc and the lid member provided at an innermost part on the opposite side from the inserting opening with respect to the turntable, lowering and raising means for lowering the disc to a position where the disc is placed on the turntable from a holding position where the disc is held by the holding means upon starting of the reproduction and raising the disc to the holding position from the turntable upon finishing or discontinuing of the reproduction, a reproducing transducer for reproducing and disc placed on the turntable, and moving means for moving the reproducing transducer from a waiting position to a reproducing position with respect to the disc.
In the above previously proposed reproducing apparatus, the disc is raised and lowered by a disc lifter. When the disc is lowered, the outer peripheral part and the inner peripheral part of the disc are supported, and the disc is stably placed onto the turntable. However, when the disc is raised, only the inner peripheral part of the disc is supported by the disc lifter. Accordingly, the state in which the disc is supported is unstable, since the outer peripheral part of the disc is not supported. If the disc is left in the above state for a long period of time, the disc may become deformed. Therefore, it is desirable to construct the reproducing apparatus so that the state in which the disc lifter is lowered is the fundamental state, and the disc lifter is raised every time the disc case or the jacket is inserted into the reproducing apparatus, by performing a predetermined operation to drive an elevator motor for raising the disc lifter.
Furthermore, in the above reproducing apparatus, the disc lifter is lowered and raised every time the disc is loaded and unloaded. When loading the disc, for example, the disc lifter is lowered upon insertion of the disc case to temporarily retreat from the disc case insertion passage. Hence, when only the jacket is pulled out, the disc lifter is raised again. The raising and lowering operation of the disc lifter must be performed with a matched timing with the insertion of the disc case into the reproducing apparatus. However, in reality, it is difficult to perform the above operation with the appropriate timing by use of a motor provided for raising and lowering the disc lifter. Therefore, a disc lifter elevator mechanism must be provided, which is capable of operating independently from the above motor for raising and lowering the disc lifter.